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Local soccer organization has Chelsea connection

Gary Wright helped put Savannah on the youth soccer national map with his leadership of the Coastal Georgia Soccer Association. The popular organization has made some changes recently — including a new name after merging with an Atlanta club and an affiliation with Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League.

As the executive director of the Southern Soccer Academy of Coastal Georgia, Wright oversees an association that fields more than 70 teams in different age groups and skill levels, with about 1,100 players participating. SSACG is now the southern branch of the Southern Soccer Association.

“We weighed the pros and cons of the merger, and they were all positive from our view,” said Wright, who started working with the CGSA in 2000. “It’s an Adidas-sponsored club, and Chelsea wanted to become developmental partners for branding purposes. To be affiliated with the European champions and one of the most successful teams in Europe is going to get our name out there.”

Wright is a native of England who grew up as a diehard fan of Liverpool. That allegiance will be hard to change, Wright said with a laugh. But Chelsea has definitely moved up in his personal soccer rankings.

Wright was a standout defender and midfielder who joined a local professional team, the Torquay United squad, as an apprentice for two years when he turned 16 years old. He later played for Yeovil Town. His coaching career included stints with an elite Swedish youth team and a job coaching Skovde AIK, a Swedish Division I team.

His knowledge of the sport has helped build soccer in Savannah. CGSA was a recreation soccer organization when he started, and while SSACG still fields recreational teams, it has expanded to include higher-level travel teams. Ten players from the Southern Soccer Academy of Coastal Georgia are currently training with Olympic Development teams in Georgia and South Carolina.

CGSA helped develop players such as Nico Rittmeyer, who played with the club as a youngster. Rittmeyer went on to star at Savannah Country Day and is now playing for North Carolina. Another club alumnus is Morgan Brian of St. Simons Island, a member of the 2012 CONCACAF Under-20 women’s championship team. The 2011 Gatorade National Player of the Year from Frederica Academy is now a sophomore midfielder playing for Virginia.

Wright is determined to continue producing top-level talent while looking forward to the affiliation with Chelsea.

“It will help with our coaching education. We will have coaches from Chelsea coming over to work with our coaches,” Wright said. “And some of our players could have the chance to go over to Europe and train with Chelsea’s younger academy players. And the merger itself will provide a great opportunity for our players to go to college showcase events and high-level tournaments that weren’t available to us previously.”